A List of Eleanor of Aquitaine’s Descendants Through John, King of England

Barons with King John and the Magna Carta
Barons with King John and the Magna Carta. The Print Collector / Print Collector / Getty Images
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Eleanor of Aquitaine's Descendants Through John, King of England

King John signing the Magna Carta
King John signing the Magna Carta, in a 19th century depiction by James William Edmund Doyle. CM Dixon/Print Collector/Getty Images

John, King of England (1166 – 1216), married twice.  John is noted for his signing of the Magna Carta.  John was the youngest child of Eleanor of Aquitaine and Henry II, and was called Lackland because his older brothers had been given territories to rule and he'd been given none.

His first wife, Isabella of Gloucester (about 1173 – 1217), was, like John, a great-grandchild of Henry I. They married in 1189 and, after much trouble with the church over consanguinity, and after John became King, the marriage was annulled in 1199 and John kept her land.  Her lands were returned to her in 1213 and she married again in 1214, her second husband, Geoffrey de Mandeville, Earl of Essex, dying in 1216. She then married Hubert de Burgh in 1217, dying herself a month later.  She and John had no children – the church had first challenged the marriage then agreed to let it stand if they had no sexual relations.

Isabella of Angoulême was John’s second wife. She had five children with John and nine in her next marriage.  John's five children -- grandchildren of Eleanor of Aquitaine and Henry II -- in his second marriage are listed on the following pages.

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Eleanor of Aquitaine's Descendants Through Henry III, King of England

Marriage of Henry III and Eleanor of Provence
Marriage of Henry III and Eleanor of Provence, from Historia Anglorum. Fine Art Images/Heritage Images/Getty Images

Henry III: the eldest grandchild of Eleanor of Aquitaine and Henry II through their son John was King Henry III of England (1207 – 1272). He married Eleanor of Provence. One of Eleanor’s sisters married another son of John and Isabella, and two of her sisters married sons of Henry III’s cousin, Blanche, who had married the King of France.

Henry III and Eleanor of Provence had five children; Henry was noted for having no illegitimate children.

1. Edward I, King of England (1239 – 1307). He was married twice.

With his first wife, Eleanor of Castile, Edward I had 14 to 16 children, with six surviving to adulthood, a son and five daughtes.

  • His only surviving son by Eleanor was Edward II. Among Edward II’s four children was Edward III.
  • Eleanor (1269 – 1298), married Henry III, Count of Bar.
  • Joan of Acre (1272 – 1307), married first Gilbert de Clare, Earl of Hertford, then Ralph de Monthermer.
  • Mary of Woodstock (1279 – 1332) was a Benedictine nun.
  • Elizabeth of Rhuddlan (1282 – 1316) married John I, Count of Holland, then Humphrey de Bohun, Earl of Hereford.

With his second wife, Margaret of France, Edward I had a daughter who died in childhood and two surviving sons. 

  • Thomas of Brotherton, Earl of Norfolk (1300 – 1338), married twice. 
  • Edmund of Woodstock, Earl of Kent (1301 – 1330), married Margaret Wake. Margaret was a descendant of Edward I’s grandfather King John via John’s illegitimate daughter Joan, who married Llywelyn the Great, Prince of Wales

2. Margaret (1240 – 1275), married Alexander III of Scotland. They had three children.

  • Margaret married King Eric II of Norway
  • Alexander, Prince of Scotland, married to Margaret of Flanders, died childless when he was only 20
  • David died when he was nine.

The death of the young prince Alexander led to the recognition as Alexander III's heir the daughter of King Eric II and the younger Margaret, yet a third Margaret -- Margaret, Maid of Norway, granddaughter of Alexander III. Her early death led to a succession controversy.

3. Beatrice (1242 – 1275) married John II, Duke of Brittany. They had six children.  Arthur II succeeded as Duke of Brittany.  John of Brittany became the Earl of Richmond.

4. Edmund (1245 – 1296), known as Edmund Crouchback, married twice. His first wife, Aveline de Forz, 11 when they married, died at 15, perhaps in childbirth. His second wife, Blanche of Artois, was the mother of three children with Edmund.  Thomas and Henry in turn each succeeded their father as Earl of Lancaster.

  • John, who died in France, married a widow and had no children.
  • Thomas, married to Alice de Lacy, died without legitimate children. 
  • Henry had seven children with Maud Chaworth, most of whom had children.  Henry’s  son, Henry of Grosmont, succeeded his father and married his daughter to Edward III’s son John of Gaunt. Henry’s daughter Mary of Lancaster was the mother of Henry Percy, Earl of Northumberland.

5. Katherine (1253 – 1257)

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Eleanor of Aquitaine's Descendants Through Richard, Earl of Cornwall

Isabella, Countess of Angouleme
Isabella, Countess of Angouleme. The Print Collector/Print Collector/Getty Images

Richard, Earl of Cornwall and King of the Romans (1209 – 1272), was the second son of King John and his second wife, Isabella of Angoulême.

Richard married three times. His first wife was Isabel Marshal (1200 - 1240). His second wife, married 1242,  was Sanchia of Provence (about 1228 - 1261). She was the sister of Eleanor of Provence, wife of Richard's brother Henry III, two of four sisters who married kings. Richard's third wife, married 1269, was Beatrice of Falkenburg (about 1254 - 1277). He had children in his first two marriages.

1. John (1232 – 1232), son of Isabel and Richard

2. Isabel (1233 – 1234), daughter of Isabel and Richard

3. Henry (1235 – 1271), son of Isabel and Richard, known as Henry of Almain, murdered by their cousins Guy and Simon (the Younger) Montfort

4. Nicholas (1240 – 1240), son of Isabel and Richard

5. Unnamed son (1246 – 1246), son of Sanchia and Richard

6. Edmund (about 1250 – about 1300), also called Edmund of Almain, son of Sanchia and Richard. Married Margaret de Clare in 1250, marriage dissolved in 1294; they had no children.

One of Richard's illegitimate children, Richard of Cornwall, was an ancestor of the Howards, Dukes of Norfolk.

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Eleanor of Aquitaine's Descendants Through Joan of England

Alexander II, King of Scotland
Alexander II, King of Scotland. The Print Collector/Print Collector/Getty Images

A third child of John and Isabella of Angoulême was Joan (1210 – 1238). She had been promised to Hugh of Lusignan, in whose household she was raised, but her mother married Hugh on John's death.

She was then returned to England where she was wed at 10 to King Alexander II of Scotland. She died in her brother Henry III's arms in 1238. She and Alexander had no children.

After Joan's death Alexander married Marie de Coucy, whose father, Enguerrand III of Coucy, had previously been married to King John's sister's daughter, Richenza.

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Eleanor of Aquitaine's Descendants Through Isabella of England

Frederick II negotiating with the Sultan of Jerusalem
Frederick II negotiating with the Sultan of Jerusalem. Dea Picture Library / Getty Images

Another daughter of King John and Isabella of Angoulême was Isabella (1214 – 1241) who married Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor. Sources differ on how many children they had and their names. They had at least four children, and she died after giving birth to their last. One, Henry, lived to about age 16.  Two children survived early childhood:

  • Henry Otto, named for his uncle Henry III. He died before he could inherit his father's titles.
  • Margaret of Germany (1241 – 1270) married Albert, heir to Henry III of Meissen. They had three sons and two daughters.  Her son Frederick was an ancestor of Margaret of Anjou and Anne of Cleves.

Frederick II was married earlier to Constance of Aragon, mother of his son Henry VII, and to Yolande of Jerusalem, mother of his son Conrad IV and a daughter who died in infancy.  He also had illegitimate children by a mistress, Bianca Lancia.

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Eleanor of Aquitaine's Descendants Through Eleanor Montfort

Simon de Montfort, killed at the Battle of Evesham
Simon de Montfort, killed at the Battle of Evesham. Duncan Walker/Getty Images

The youngest child of King John and his second wife, Isabella of Angoulême, was Eleanor (1215 – 1275), often called Eleanor of England or Eleanor Montfort.

Eleanor married twice, first William Marshal, Earl of Pembroke (1190 - 1231), then Simon de Montfort, Earl of Leicester (about 1208 - 1265).

She was married to William when she was nine and he was 34, and he died when she was sixteen. They had no children. 

Simon de Montfort led a rebellion against Eleanor’s brother, Henry III, and was defacto ruler of England for a year. 

Eleanor's children with Simon de Montfort:

1. Henry de Montfort (1238 – 1265). He was killed in an ambush in battle between forces of his father, Simon de Montfort, and his uncle the king, Henry III, for whom Henry de Montfort was named.

2. Simon the younger de Montfort (1240 – 1271). He and his brother Guy murdered their maternal first cousin, Henry de Almain, to avenge their father’s death.

3. Amaury de Montfort (1242/43 - 1300), Canon of York. Taken captive by his mother’s cousin, Edward I.

4. Guy de Montfort, Count of Nola (1244 – 1288). He and his brother Henry murdered Henry de Almain, their maternal first cousin. Living in Tuscany he married Margherita Aldobrandesca. They had two daughters. 

  • Anastasia, married Romano Orsini. Her son Roberto Orsinia, married to Sueva del Balzo, was an ancestor of Elizabeth Woodville and thus of Elizabeth of York and her royal descendants. Anastasia’s son Guido Orsini married and had children. Anastasia's daughter Giovanni married and had children.
  • Tomasina, married Pietro di Vico. They had no children.

5. Joanna (about 1248 - ?) – died in early childhood

6. Richard de Montfort (1252 – 1281?)

7. Eleanor de Montfort (1258 – 1282). Married to Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, Prince of Wales. She died in childbirth in 1282.

  • Her daughter, Gwenllian of Wales (1282 – 1337), survived; she was captured when she was just a year old Edward I, her mother’s cousin, and confined for fifty years into the reign of Edward III.
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Lewis, Jone Johnson. "A List of Eleanor of Aquitaine’s Descendants Through John, King of England." ThoughtCo, Aug. 26, 2020, thoughtco.com/eleanor-of-aquitaines-descendants-3529662. Lewis, Jone Johnson. (2020, August 26). A List of Eleanor of Aquitaine’s Descendants Through John, King of England. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/eleanor-of-aquitaines-descendants-3529662 Lewis, Jone Johnson. "A List of Eleanor of Aquitaine’s Descendants Through John, King of England." ThoughtCo. https://www.thoughtco.com/eleanor-of-aquitaines-descendants-3529662 (accessed March 19, 2024).